Lilia Fight for a soul
by merl
Summary: After being imprisoned in a cave for about 20 years Lilia decided to walk the earth again and freed herself. Finding herself in a world where magic was banned and sorcerers were killed she was curious to get to know the man who was responsible for this.
1. Chapter 1

**Lilia – Fight for a soul**

**Chapter 1: Freeing Lilia**

Slowly and gently the drop ran down the black stone of the cave, glistening with moisture. Searching its way through countless alleys laid before it, gathering at the edge, and falling down, slightly enlarged, into the puddle formed by its predecessors.

It was cold. Almost freezing. But not freezing enough to stop the water, to solidify it.

And it was calm. Not still, because there was too much life sneaking in the shadows. But the creatures of the night lived side by side quietly, a kind of symbiosis of darkness.

It was this living calmness, this silent pepperiness that made the dungeon cruel.

Lilia tried to move, but it hurt too much, as usual. They had bound her arms with iron cuffs above her head into the stone, used strong rags to prevent her from opening her fists and bound her feet together with strong ropes. They must have feared she might escape.

A smile flitted over Lilia's pretty face.

„Those humans", she thought amused. She would have sacrificed a lot to know how long she had been captured by now. No one ever came to her. If she remembered it right the entrance to the cave had been closed with a big rock.

"Probably with magic", she thought, and that made her smile again.

Humans were afraid of all things new.

They never had believed that it had been their well-known, oh so well valued magician of the town betraying them, leading them to ruin. Rather, they had blamed the young witch, who had just had arrived in town.

Lilia had given them a run for their money.

Her appearance was so young, but she was not. She had an experience of life the oldest resident in that town could not beat.

Lilia was not even human. Not really. Not anymore.

"I am bored", she said to a rat, which looked up to her in surprise, cocking its head.

"Why not just leave?" Lilia thought about it a moment. "I was tired. Sometimes a little sleep feels very good. Well, this position is not that comfortable. But I am well rested now." She closed her eyes, exhaled deeply, which battered her features, gathered her powers, sent them into legs and arms and was free.

"You see?", she said to the rat. "If I want to, I can do it."

She stood up slowly. Over and over again she had given herself power to prepare herself.

Now was the time.

She stepped through the cave and with every step she caused the living calmness to turn into panic. Everything shooed, swarmed around and the water on the walls solidified.

Lilia reached the exit. It only took a little movement of her hand to break the rock.

She went outside into the fresh air, the daylight, looked at the world, a great lake.

Overlooked the meadow, fields and beheld a castle far away with curiosity and amazement. She did not know it.

"It seems I've been locked up longer than I thought", she said to herself in surprise.

Then she called the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Camelot**

_Chains split, r__ocks broke and the rats fled. Laughter in the darkness, eternal night closed in and golden eyes stared at him..._

Merlin woke up suddenly, hard and fast breathing. The days of horror, the fires of the dragon and the disappearing of Morgana resonated, pushed him down. And now he suffered from those dreams, which haunted him for several days. Those eyes burned, scared him but still there was something familiar, something sad in them.

Merlin sighed.

„Merlin?", Gaius opened the door carefully and illuminated the room with a candle. Merlin stared at him, scared.

"Gaius! I did not scream, did I?", he asked slightly confused about his night-time visitor.

"No, you didn't. Why should you? Anything happened?"

„No, no, everything is fine." Those last days had been much too back-breaking and Merlin did not want to bother Gaius with his nightmares. "But why are you here, in the middle of the night?"

"Because it should be daytime", Gaius replied shortly. "Get up. It seems we have a problem." He lit a second candle, put it on the floor and closed the door.

Day?

Outside it was deep darkness.

Merlin got dressed quickly, took the candle and went to Gaius.

"What is going on? It is pitch black."

"I know that", Gaius mumbled while he thumbed through some books. "But it should be day. Any idea?", he asked as he saw Merlin rubbing his temples.

"No", he answered quickly, looked up then with a thoughtful gaze and corrected himself: "Although...I dreamt of something like an eternal darkness. And of golden eyes."

Gaius stared at him.

"What?", Merlin asked.

"Nothing." Gaius turned back to his books. "You should go to Arthur now."

Merlin nodded.

He had headaches. He constantly saw those eyes. Something called him. Somebody. Silent but noticeable.

Confused he set off and thought about how to explain a night in the middle of the day to Arthur and Gwen.

„Merlin?" Arthur was not pleased being woken up. "What is it?"

"Gaius said it should be day." Merlin looked out of the window into the courtyard. Many people gathered there, looked up into the sky. They were scared, did not understand.

"This is no real darkness", Merlin realized.

"Pardon me?", Arthur asked yawning and moody while peeling himself out of the sheets.

"It is more like twilight. A foggy darkness..." Merlin was lost on thoughts when a hit on the head hurt him.

"You should not stay up that long. You know you can't hold your own." Arthur stood next to him, looking outside too, realizing the same.

"Strange", he mumbled. "I should go to see my father."

Chaos took over the throne room.

Merlin seldom had seen that many people in this place. Everyone was talking, confused, scared. They nearly freaked out.

"I don't understand. What is going on?", Gwen stepped behind them. Arthur put his arm around her, nuzzled her for a second and let her go again.

"I don't know. But we will find out." Strong-willed he approached Uther who nervously was talking to Gaius.

"Arthur!", the King said relieved.

Since Morgana's disappearance he seemed older, broken. But still he stood strong.

"This appears to be the work of a powerful magician. Call your men and search the town", he told his son.

„I do not know if that is the right thing to do. The people are anxious, scared. If we search the town now, there might be excesses", Arthur tried to object. But as usual, Uther was not reasonable when it came to magic.

"Stop those excesses then. You can see what is going on." With a great gesture Uther pointed to the window. "Even though the people are scared, they want the light back. They will help." So he turned back to talk to Gaius who looked at Merlin for a second, telling him with just a little nod to wait at the edge of the hall.

While Arthur left the hall with a shrug and Gwen tried to calm down some servants, Merlin searched for a place they could talk without disturbance. The second he found that place Gaius was with him.

"I remember having heard that something like this has happened before. Not far from here, but not that bad." Gaius was really worried and Merlin was waiting for him to continue.  
"Back in the day, there was a young witch, using dark magic. Calling the darkness was just the beginning of a long fight she lost."

"When did this happen?", Merlin interrupted.

„Shortly before magic was banned, about 20 years ago. I have to find out more about this. You should stay with Arthur and try to prevent the worst."  
"You mean by using magic?", Merlin asked, cocking his head with a little smile on his lips.

But Gaius remained more serious than Merlin ever had seen before.

"If it is necessary. We are not used to live in darkness. The people will not just be afraid." That being said, he left the room. Merlin followed him to the door and they separated.

"Oh, Merlin?", Gaius added. "Be careful, my boy."

Merlin grinned.

"Of course, as always."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3** : **Lilia's Way**

No one knew her.

No one looked at her as she walked by.

Lilia was confused.

She passed through several small villages while she walked towards the castle.

Nobody looked at her, stared at her with that respect she knew from the time before her imprisonment. They did not even notice her. She was just one of many on their way to the castle.

Camelot.

Never before had Lilia heard of this Camelot.

But King Uther, that seemed familiar. She remembered a young man with this name. She remembered the circumstances of his son's birth. She had heard of that. In her dreams, binding her with the magical world. Shortly afterwards they had locked her away.

And now there was this castle, ruled by this king.

Even more strange was the fact, that she did not see a magician of the village. She could feel the presence of magic here and there, but there was no sorcerer. Quite the contrary, in fact those who seemed to have powers hid shy and scared in the corners, at the walls, by the side of the road.

What happened to the world she knew? This world full of magic, full of charm and miracles? The magicians, the warlocks and witches? Mythical creatures and fairy tales? Everything had disappeared. Or was hiding.

"Well, this might not be so bad for some of them", she said to herself, remembering less nice meetings with magicians who thought they were stronger then a young looking witch.

Lilia had to laugh.

And for the first time someone stared at her.

A little girl, about 5 years old.

"Why are you laughing?", asked the little one.

"Why not?", asked Lilia in return, bowing forward. "Tell me, little one, do you know any witches?"

The girl flinched, looking scared at her.

"They are bad. Get killed", she answered finally, nodding and fully convinced.

Her face hard as stone Lilia looked at the child.

With just a movement of her eyes she threw the girl at the next wall.

Immediately a bunch of people surrounded the witch.

"A witch" - "She didn't even touch Rosa" - "Tell the king" - "Kill the witch"

Everyone was talking nervously, looking at each other, at Lilia, the child and at Lilia again.

The men armed themselves with everything they could use as a weapon, stood in a circle surrounding Lilia.

She folded her arms across her chest and took a close look at everyone.

"You had better let me go", she said strong-willed, cold as ice. "Even a stake can not kill me."

The men closed in.

Lilia sighed. Actually she did not want to catch anyone's eye on her first day of freedom. But she could feel the nervousness, the agitation of the people around her. Two days of darkness and now this.

Lilia could understand them. And with a wide gesture she let them fly through the air.

"You should stay on the ground. So far I've been nice to you and will let you live in this world. Although it might be more nice, to think about that again". She mulled it over shortly, looked around, saw the little girl's face covered with tears, detecting the scared, almost panicked respect.

Joy flooded the witch. There it was again. The respect.

She was satisfied, turned her back to the village and continued her way to the castle.

Of course she saw this man getting onto his horse and galloping away in front of her. He would reach the castle a lot sooner. But why not? They would have the time to prepare for her and her questions. To think of a defence.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Camelot**

"Arthur, what will you do now?", Merlin asked breathless.

He had followed the prince, who started searching the town with his men. Not every citizen seemed to concur with this. Some struggled and were pushed back by the knights.

"You've heard my father", Arthur replied annoyed.

Suddenly a man nipped forward towards the prince, a knife in his hands.

With a skilful, long-time practised and trained move Arthur disarmed the man, turning his arm to the back, forced him onto his knees and explained to him calm but resolutely: "I don't want this any more than you do. I can not imagine any citizen of Camelot doing such a cruel thing. But it is necessary to investigate." He pushed the man away and turned towards the other people: "If anyone saw anything, weird strangers, strange things, then tell me. You are the citizens of this town, you know if something is different. Help us so we can help you."

The people lowered their heads. Nobody said anything, but you could see them thinking, trying to remember the last days.

Merlin hoped they would listen to Arthur.

The prince continued walking down the streets and Merlin followed.

"This is madness", Arthur said. "Who would do anything like this and why?"

"Hm, maybe the person doesn't like the sun?" Merlin said grinning. But the grin died rather fast as he saw Arthur's iron face.

"Sorry...".

"This is not funny, Merlin", Arthur looked around. "Even when the dragon raged they weren't this scared."

"They can't see who is doing this", Merlin gave in. "That might be the worst part of it."

"My Lord", a knight came up to the prince. " A messenger from a village arrived. A witch made trouble there."

Arthur looked scared at Merlin and ran into the direction the knight pointed out. Merlin followed him.

„She has got white skin", the messenger babbled. "White skin and golden eyes. Cold eyes, cruel. She almost killed a little girl, smashed her against a wall. So brutal, with a stone-cold face. And she made all the men of the village fly through the air with just one movement of her hand. She laughed, a high, clear laughter." He trembled with fear, whispered the words.

"The man is shocked." Arthur rested his hand on the man's shoulder. "Give him water and food and take care of the horse. We are riding to the village."  
"Flee, my Lord." The man stared at Arthur. "Flee, she is coming here."

Uther paced up and down the throne room.

Meanwhile five messengers had arrived, all telling a similar story.

"She is getting closer", Arthur broke the silence,

"I know", the king mumbled. "But who is she and what does she want?"

"It's her", a deep, shivering voice said.

Uther, Arthur, Merlin and Gaius turned around. Two knights came in, carrying an old man.

„Another messenger, my Lord ", one of the knights said. "But this one knows more."

Fast and forceful Uther walked towards the old man.

"Who is it?", he asked harsh.

"She's back again" the old man stuttered. "And she looks like back in the day."

"Who?" This time it was Arthur asking, stepping towards the man, grabbing his arm. "Talk, man!"

"Lilia", he said.

"Can't be!", Gaius stepped back, pale as a sheet.

Everyone stared at him.

"She is dead. They killed her!", Gaius yelled.

The old man laughed.

"Killed her?", he asked hysterically. "How can you kill a goddess? We piled a sword into her chest and the wound closed immediately. We tried to behead her and the axe shattered. We tried to burn her but she just laughed, sucked the flames and destroyed half of the village." He slumped down and the knights did their best to hold him. "You cannot kill her", he whispered powerless.

Everyone had been listening stunned, looking from the broken man to a desperate, uncomprehending Gaius and back.

After a while the king rose to speak: "One thing after another. Who is she? Where did she come from? What does she want? Gaius, what do you know?"

Gaius swallowed, tried to find something to start with.

"It was more than 20 years ago when she first showed up. Travelling across the country she passed through one of the bigger villages. Back then magic was something well known, something usual and every village, every city had its own magician. The name of the magician in this village was Aaron."

The second Gaius mentioned that name Uther flinched.

"Who is that?", Merlin asked, recognizing the king's reaction.

"Was, Merlin", Gaius answered. "Aaron was the first magician to be executed. He had led his village to ruin, killed many people who did not obey him and accused others of the murders. The people believed him, because he was their magician.

One day a young witch named Lilia travelled through. Three people died that day, the last was one who was charged with the first two murders. Aaron took advantage of that and blamed the stranger. They seized her, exerted pressure on her..."

He stopped.

The messenger continued: "Aaron told her what she was accused of. She said nothing, just looked at him. I think, she recognized his real character." The old man swallowed. "I was there. I lived in that village. Lilia's eyes widened, those beautiful, cold, golden eyes. She did not understand the accusations." He stopped, overwhelmed by memories. Then he continued: "Of course we listened to Aaron, even though we saw, that Lilia did not know what had happened. We circled her in, armed with everything we could find. Aaron tried to bind her with a spell but Lilia fought him. So much power in such a delicate body. While Aaron had to use spells for his magic, Lilia just needed a gesture, sometimes just a wink. She was more powerful than the sorcerer we knew as the most powerful creature of the neighbourhood. Then she called the darkness, laughing, using one hand, while she held back the others and Aaron with the other hand." Another short break and Merlin saw that the old man had tears in his eyes.

"I do not think she had ever been in a situation like that before. If she had, she would have recognized, that Aaron's students were sneaking up behind her, holding witch-chains in their hands. They bound her. Aaron collapsed, the darkness disappeared and Lilia was crushed down. She went down on her knees, staring at us, tried to say something but remained silent. I did not hear her talking at all.

We now knew what she was capable of. And even though we were sure that she had not killed anyone, we had to get rid of her. We tried to kill her but we couldn't. So we decided to lock her up.

We took her into the deepest, darkest cave we knew, constrained her with the witch-chains to the wall and barricaded the entrance.

Before we left the cave I took one last look at her. There was a little blessed smile on her lips. She was not afraid, not bothered at all. I think she was grateful. "

He kept still.

Gaius brought a cup of water and the old man drank greedily.

"What happened today?", Uther asked after a while.

The old man settled himself and said: "We had news of a witch travelling through the land. I could not believe it but the description fit what I knew. I tried to explain it to the others, tried to convince them to let her pass without disturbance. But who would listen to an old, doddery man? They built barriers, armed themselves and took the women and children to safety. Then I saw her. Beautiful like back in the day. Young. Colder. She took a look around, saw the people, their weapons. I think she gasped. And while she lifted one hand, the archers lit up the barriers. Lilia took down her hand, watched the fire with no emotion, stepped inside, spread her arms and absorbed the fire like she had done once before. Again she took a look around and her eyes met me. She cocked her head, realizing who I was, nodding to me. I don't know why, but I knew that she told me to go, to come here. To tell everyone. To prepare you.

While I fled, I could hear the men screaming. I did not look back."

He was completely devitalised. Gaius stood beside him, holding him.

"She killed everyone", Merlin guessed.

"No", the old man said. "She hurts people, spreads fear. She wants respect but I never have heard that she killed someone. Even as we tried to take her life, she just catapulted the offenders away or deterred their attacks. She was able to free herself, she is still young. That shows how powerful she is. But she has not killed anyone."  
Arthur stared at Uther.

"What can we do?" the prince asked.

Uther thought about it.

Gaius talked to the old man quietly while Arthur stared concerned at his father. Merlin just stood around.

„We have to stop her", Uther finally said. "We have no other choice. She is a witch, a cruel witch. Creatures like her poison this world. What more proof do we need to see how bad magic is?" His face turned to stone. Furiously he turned to his son: "Gather your men. Ride out. Kill her."

Arthur gazed at the king.

"But father, the man said..." Arthur tried to object, but Uther interrupted him brutal.

"Kill her. I don't care how."

While father and son argued, the world around Merlin blurred, became foggy and fuzzy.

"Who are you?", a light and curios voice asked. "I can see you."

Golden eyes gazed at him.

Merlin recoiled, stumbled against the wall. Gaius and the old man saw it. But before they could say anything, a scream from the outside sounded.

The king hurried to the window.

But everyone knew immediately: She had arrived.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Lilia in Camelot**

A magician lived here. Lilia could feel him clearly, as if he were stood right next to her. And he was powerful.

"Not alone", she thought smiling and stepped through the huge gate into Camelot.

She had imagined it more commanding.

Camelot was big and impressive but Lilia had seen more interesting places before. However, there was a certain flurry in the streets. People stood at house walls, their faces chalky, staring into the dark sky or they walked through the streets, yelling prophecies about the end of the world, talking about demons and other bunkum.

Just a few noticed the newcomer and those who saw her, stared at her with wide eyes.

Lilia could not hold back a smile.

From every village she had let one messenger escape to tell everyone about her. And yesterday she had met this old man she remembered from back in the day. He had been there when they had locked her up. He knew, who she was, what she was capable of, what they had done to her.

Yesterday they had tried to burn her, the men of the village. So ridiculous. It had not worked the first time, so why should it now?

It had made her more furious than she had expected. She had been surprised by her reaction. She had not intended to burn the village to the ground but they had made her very angry. She had had that picture from back in the day in her head, about the stake, about the charges, the bloodthirsty people, killing an innocent woman instead of facing the truth.

She had wanted to kill everyone.

But then she had seen this old man.

She remembered his eyes. And she remembered that he had not raised a weapon to her. Not back in the day and not yesterday.

She remembered the expression in his eyes as he had looked at her.

He had not been afraid of her.

He had been the last person to leave when they had locked her away and he had looked back at her, right at her face, realizing something she had already forgotten.

Lost in thoughts Lilia walked towards the main building. She tried to remember something she knew she had known before and had to shake her head about this almost ridiculous thought.

"With the force given to me, I call the night", a young, light voice reached her ears and she looked up confused.

A handful of children gathered around in a little court, four surrounding one. And this one child held his hands over his head into the sky, while saying the words and lowered the arms as if covering the ground with the just conjured darkness. The other four ran around screaming.

They are playing?

They are playing me?

Lilia stood there like she turned to stone.

How dare they?

"Seems like you like this", she said loud to those kids, who stood still immediately.

Some grown up people standing around looked at her.

"They are just playing", an older woman said.

"This isn't something to be played with", Lilia barked at her.

"They are afraid like all of us, but they are only children", the old woman said. "They are trying to hide their fear."

"They can't hide it", Lilia said. "I want to see it", she mumbled, turned around to the kids, walking towards them slowly.

The adults stood up, the children had frozen.

"The great thing about you little creatures is that you learn very fast", Lilia said to them. "But you need too long to be able to see the difference between good and evil. You have to learn that, or you might not survive."

She had almost reached the children when an old man stepped towards her: "You better leave. The knights are searching the town for the damn witch. We only have to call for them and they will be here."

"Oh really", Lilia looked him straight in the eyes. He was taller than her, but she did not care about physical height or strength.

He bumped back.

"Golden eyes..." ,he stuttered. "They've been talking about golden eyes."

Lilia laughed.

"Oh, great. So call your dear knights", she said, her face suddenly hard, and continued with a lowered voice: "I look forward to it."

She smashed him against the wall.

The children and women screamed, ran away, tried to get away from her, but Lilia spread her arms, made the people stop, made string puppets out of them and let them walk in front of her, towards the knights.

"Stop!", one of them called.

Lilia sighed.

"Do me a favour and don't mention stopping me, killing me or anything like that. It's annoying."

They stepped back unsettled.

Lilia stopped, her string puppets in front of her.

She pondered.

She wanted to do something, but she did not know what it should be.

"Hm", she thought. "Smashing them around is exhausting. Ah well, one more time."

Saying that she smashed the puppets against the knights, who lowered their swords just in time.

They made a great muddle.

At that moment, all of a sudden she could see him. She talked to him: "Who are you?"

The puppets screamed as Lilia let them out of her power. The silence disappeared and the people standing around started to scream too.

Lilia stood amongst them, she saw this magician clearly in her mind and searched everywhere for him. Where was he?

Slowly she raised her head, looking up at the building in front of her, stopping at a window, she laughed.

"King Uther", she raised her voice. "What a pleasure to see you."

Then she entered the building and went high-flying to the room she had seen the king in.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Meeting **

"Guards, come inside and lock the door!", Arthur called his knights and they followed his orders immediately. Merlin and everyone else moved together at the other side of the room and Merlin told Gaius quickly and quietly about what he had heard.

"She is a powerful witch. She must have felt the presence of another magician", Gaius replied.

"Just like Mordred", Merlin added, lost in thoughts.

They had no chance to go on with this conversation.

"What do we do?", Arthur asked the king. "We won't be able to stop her from breaking the door open."

Uther was staring scared at Arthur with wide eyes and a pale face.

"We have to kill her before she can kill us."

The old messenger burst out into a vicious laughter.

„You can not kill her. Nobody can. Because she doesn't WANT to die", he said keen and all he got was a sniffy look from the King.

"Everything can be killed, everything can die. This girl won't be an exception."

The old man wanted to say something but Gaius held him back with a touch and a meaningful look.

There was no talking to Uther when magic was involved. Magic had to be destroyed, no matter how.

Merlin thought about the old times and the affect this attitude had had. He thought about Morgana, Freya, his Father and the Dragon. If the king did not hate magic like this, things might have been different.

He stared at Uther.

It would be so easy, now that the king had pulled his sword, now that everyone was holding their weapons in their hands. Just one little spell and Uther was dead.

Gaius grabbed his arm and Merlin looked up in shock.

"If you have to act to save everyone, do it. But be careful", Gaius said.

He had seen Merlin's focused look but luckily he had interpreted it wrong. Merlin just nodded.

Then the door broke open and the witch entered.

"Hello", she greeted everyone happily. "This is a nice place." She looked around in curiosity while walking towards the group of people.

"What do you want?", Uther asked unfriendly, stepping back one step behind his son.

Lilia looked at him, cocking her head. "You don't give much for courtesy around here", she said regretfully.

"It would seem this is not the time for courtesy judging by the trail of chaos you have left", Arthur interrupted.

"You must be the prince", Lilia reckoned offish. "Is it my fault that nobody listens to my warnings?" she asked shrugging and looked at everyone.

Her face lightened up as she saw the old messenger.

"You've made it here", she said to him smiling. "Did you tell them everything?"

He nodded.

"Good", she lauded him and regarded the others.

Her sight stopped at Merlin, resting upon him, searching his mind.

"They don't know", she muttered.

"What do you want from us?", Gaius asked quickly before she could continue. "Why have you come all this way?"

She seemed surprised, Merlin thought. She had realized that Gaius was protecting him. And she did not understand.

There was silence for a few seconds. Lilia was thinking, cogitating about why this old man was protecting the young magician.

She got rid of those thoughts with a shrug. She would find out.

"I just wanted to know who he is", she said pointing at Uther. "I wanted to know who is daring to ban magic. And I would like to know why?" The last question was meant for the king.

More silence while Lilia waited for the answer and the others stared at her in surprise.

"Like a little child", it crossed Merlin's mind as he recognized her curious, enquiring look.

Finally the king took over the word: "Witches like you are the reason. Magic is bad and is corrupting the people. There is nothing good about it."

He felt so sullen to Merlin, so unimportant and small.

Retreated behind the prince and the knights, holding his sword spasmodic and with panic in his eyes he did not appear like the strong king anymore. He was a shadow of his former self.

Lilia also recognized this behaviour.

"Oh", she said insultingly. "But convicting people, execute them, putting them away for life or forcing them to deny who they really are is so much better."

Merlin had to smile automatically and caught a little slap from Gaius who was looking at him angrily.

"Besides", Lilia continued, "it's not magic that's bad, it's what it is used for."

"Like you by using it to hurt other people?" Arthur returned the question.

A smile crossed her face and she turned away from Uther.

"You will be a great king. Greater and better than this one", she predicted and gave the king a dismissive wave with her hand.

"I am just protecting myself. I am warning the people but they don't want to listen. They feel so much stronger because they come around in gaggles and with their incredible great weapons, trying to attack me. It is not nice, being attacked", she defended herself, sounding almost offended.

"We warn everyone not to use magic but they still do it", Uther barked at her.

Lilia's face turned to stone, her eyes glowing.

"Oh yes, you warn them and then you kill them. I've heard a lot about you, King Uther. You even kill the innocent because everyone is guilty in your eyes. Despite whether the person really is guilty or not. How can you defend yourself when the conviction already has been made and without the chance to change that conviction, the bias, the precast opinion?" She became louder and more grim with every word. Sadder.

The old messenger started sobbing and Merlin saw that he had tears in his eyes. Surprised he stared at Lilia. Her eyes stopped glowing, they were glazing. She remembered something that had happened 20 years ago. And this was painful.

"She is not cold and insensitive", Merlin whispered. "She is hurt."

Gaius made it clear not to speak. "But still she injured hundreds of people."

"What if there was a magician among the present people?", Lilia asked suddenly and Merlin flinched.

"That is absurd", Arthur said immediately.

And once again the surprise was clearly visible in Lilia's face.

"I know each and everyone. No one of them is using magic", the king added and Lilia had difficulties not to laugh while Merlin and Gaius lowered their heads so no one could see their concern.

"I think I've found out enough", Lilia declared.

"Let me tell you, king", she was talking to Uther directly, "I will stay close. So don't even try doing something stupid."

She thought for a second. Then she raised one hand, focused for a second and all of the swords fell to the floor, transformed to blades for grass.

"And those are really ridiculous", she said. She turned around to leave but was kept back by Arthur: "What about the darkness? What exactly do you want?"

"I like it dark. Besides, I want to be left alone, a bit of respect and...", she thought a moment, putting one hand on her stomach. "And something to eat."

So she left, closing the door behind her.

Lilia was smiling while she left the building, stepping outside into the courtyard, down the street, while everyone looked at her in panic and she left Camelot. She tried to find a nice place, sat down, conjured up a nice meal and rested for a bit, while her mind was searching for the magician to find out, what was happening in Camelot.

For minutes they just stood there, staring at the locked door, confused by what just had happened. No one said anything because no one knew what to say.

"She is gone", Arthur finally broke the silence and kicked the little hill of blades of grass.

"Oh, really", Uther barked at his son and sat down on the throne.

"What?", Arthur asked uncomprehending. "What could I possibly have done? You saw what she did to our swords."

"You should have attacked her before that", Uther said cold.

Before Arthur could give a mad answer, Gaius interrupted: "I don't think that this would have been possible."  
He drew Uther's anger to himself.

"And what else can our wise physician tell us?"

"Well, Sire," Gaius replied, trying to stay calm. "She showed clearly how powerful she is. The messenger's stories are clear. They tried to destroy her but she didn't even have a scratch from it."

"And what do you suggest?", the king asked, a bit more calm.

"She has to come from somewhere. She can't just have appeared 20 years ago. She is too powerful so there must be some evidence from her in that time. I think we should try to find out as much as we can about her."

Uther was thinking.

"You are probably right", he finally said. "Take care of that. Arthur, try to calm down the people."

Arthur nodded, beckoned his knights over to him and was held back by is father one more time:  
"The second Gaius knows more, you will find and kill that witch."

Everyone stared at him. But no one dared to say anything.

Merlin looked at those who accepted this wordless. But then he just could not stay quiet: "She is right. She is right with everything she says."

Gaius looked at him spooked.

"Merlin, don't be foolish." Arthur demanded.

"No, no", Uther said canting, "let the boy say what he wants to say."

Merlin looked around, uncertain. It was too late to pull back even if he wanted too.

"Everyone is afraid of doing the wrong thing because they might be accused of using magic and be executed. When someone can't stand someone else, he just accuses that person of using magic. And if it wasn't for the hatred of magic, Morgana would still be here.

Uther jumped from the throne.

"Don't you dare talk to me like that, boy. You are just a servant and you have no clue about this world."

He walked towards Merlin, grabbing his neckerchief and Arthur immediately stepped in:" The witch must have planted that in his head. She looked at him so keen. Let's face facts", he said lapidary. "Merlin is not the strongest of guys and really easy to influence." He gave his servant a clout and the king let go of him.

He thoughtfully stared at Merlin.

"You might be right, Arthur", he then said, turning around to his knights and demanded: "Lock him up. Maybe he will cool down."

The knights grabbed Merlin, who wanted to fight them. But Gaius stopped him. The old man seemed sad and uneasy. Just this made the magician realize what kind of danger he was in. While the knights brought him to the dungeon, he could hear a silent laughter in the back of his head. She was watching him.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Escape**

„You could just open the door and walk out", the already well known voice of the witch sounded.

Merlin sat up right away.

There she stood, in the middle of the cell and watched him amused.

"How did you get here?", he asked confused, because he could hear the guards talking and noticed that the door was locked.

"I am not here", she said giggling.

Merlin rubbed his eyes and his temples.

"But I can see you", he said and yawned. He had been asleep until Lilia woke him up.

"You are still asleep", she said. "You are dreaming. But I thought a little chat would be easier this way. I am bored but I am too lazy to walk outside the woods." She sat down, legs crossed, and Merlin walked to her, sat down in front of her.

"Can I do that too?", he asked curious. He was more and more fascinated by her.

"Of course. You are strong. And interesting, otherwise I wouldn't be talking to you." She examined him closely. "Why don't you just leave?"

"It's far too dangerous", he said.

Lilia laughed.

"Dangerous? Just one word and everything around goes up in the air!" She could not understand him.

"Not just dangerous for me but for everyone else." He was thinking about how he could explain it to her. "For Gaius."

"He knows what you are but he doesn't sell you out", Lilia was brooding. "He really must like you."

Merlin nodded and tears came into his eyes. So many times he had brought danger upon Gaius. He had to be more careful because Uther's mistrust for his fellow men was growing day by day.

"Why are you really here?", he asked.

"I wanted to visit you", she said. "I thought it would be a bit boring inside a prison."

Merlin grinned.

"Why are you in Camelot?", he corrected.

Lilia was thinking. Her forehead wrinkled and she bit her bottom lip while she was thinking about what brought her here.

"I am not exactly sure. Uther banned magic and I am a magical being."

"But that can't be it", Merlin said.

"Maybe not. But if you want to know more, you will have to visit me." She was playing.

"How shall I do that?"

„Free yourself, take the guards out, terrify Camelot and come to me?" she asked with wide eyes.

Merlin looked at her shocked.

"I would never do something like that!", he said loud and got up.

"But that's so much fun", Lilia said, disappointed. "But I wasn't counting on you agreeing to that. If you want to come, you will find the way. It's not difficult. Just follow your nose." She also got up, stepped towards Merlin, reached out with her hand and touched his cheek. There was a smile on her face, soft.

"It's good to know that I am not alone.", was the last thing she said before she disappeared.

Merlin opened his eyes. He lay on the bed.

Gaius stood in the open door, staring at him.

"She talked to you", he determined, turned around and left the dungeons. Merlin followed him immediately.

Gaius did not go the way to his chambers, instead he walked straight towards the throne room.

"You have to be careful", he warned Merlin silently. "She is old, old and dangerous. You can't trust her."

"What did you find out?", Merlin asked, recognizing how concerned Gaius was.

"Not now", Gaius replied.

Just a few moments later they arrived at the throne room, Uther and Arthur already waited for them.

"Gaius", the King yelled and walked towards his old friend. "What did you find out?"

"I came across a really old record she is mentioned in", Gaius shared his knowledge. "She must be about 100 years old, maybe more than that. The records speak of a powerful but fair witch, helping the people. Always in her own kind of way. She had flooded a swath of land because the resident people were complaining about the aridity. Their village was destroyed and they lost everything. But the land was now fecund. But that took a while to become clear. She was chased off, like many times before." He stopped, lost in thoughts.

"How many people died that day?" Arthur asked.

"Not a single one", Gaius replied. "All of the villagers gathered on a hill."

"You see", Merlin called out. "She is not bad."

Arthur hit is servant on the head while Merlin caught a worried look from Gaius and a destroying one from Uther. He dropped his head, staring at the floor, but could not hold back a grin.

"This appears over and over again in the records", Gaius continued. "And the newer the record the more it gets close to what is happening here."

"Another reason to get rid of her", Uther said.

"But we still don't know how", Arthur gave rise to doubt and Gaius added: "There are no clues about this in the records either. No one knows how to kill her or even hurt her."

Merlin listened to this shaking his head.

"Can't you see that that's exactly your mistake?" , he said to everyone and everyone stared at him.

„It seems like the boy should have spent some more time in the dungeons", Uther said. "What would be the right thing to do, according to you?", he added sneakily.

Merlin hesitated. How could he get out of this situation without revealing his true nature?

"Why can't you just allow her to settle somewhere and live in peace?", he said pausing and silent.

Uther stared at him and burst into laughter while a pale Gaius exhaled in relief and Arthur just stood there.

"What?", Merlin yelled. "Maybe that is what she wants."

"Sure", Arthur said. "Because she has already been so discreet."

"She hasn't killed anyone. Gaius, did you find anything in the records about her killing someone? ", Merlin turned to Gaius.

He hesitated, thought a bit and confessed: "No. There were only wounded people. She always warned the people beforehand. The ones not listening got hurt."  
"You see", Merlin said again. "She can't be evil. She doesn't kill, she always warns people, she even helped them. Well, in her own kind of way but in principle she only meant good things. Just ask her if she agrees. It would be a trade-off everyone could live with. "

Everyone gazed at him.

"I can help you", Lilia's voices sounded in his head.

"Merlin...", Gaius started but Uther interrupted him.

"Do you know what you are saying, boy?", the King asked with a cold voice. "You are talking about allowing a witch to practise magic with my agreement. That would be the downfall of Camelot. There is no other way but the obvious."

"I still can help you", Lilia trolled.

Merlin looked around hounded. Lilia would not leave the country freely. He had to convince her, help her. He had to go to her.

"I will not let this happen", he said before he could think about it.

Uther's face turned to stone, his eyes dark. Gaius was shaking and Arthur walked towards Merlin, holding his arm and whispered: "Whatever is going on in your puzzled mind, keep it to yourself."

Merlin broke free.

"No. She needs help.", he said confidently and that made the King laugh once more.

"She is pretty, I have to confess and she obviously clouded your mind." He gave the guards a wave. "Lock him up again until the business with the witch is over. If he gives you any kind of trouble, keep him quiet." He turned away while the guards grabbed Merlin and tried to take him away. But Merlin refused to come along.

"Merlin, please be reasonable.", Gaius advised him.

In this moment the air flickered. A shadow appeared in the middle of the room, taking the shape of Lilia. She raised her hands, pointing at the guards and they froze.

"Run!", she whispered into Merlin's head. "Run to the woods, I am waiting there."

Puzzled he looked at her.

"Guards!", Uther yelled, pulled his sword but Arthur was faster. He hit Lilia with full force. It went straight through her.

"An illusion", Merlin thought.

Then he started running.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Conversation in the woods and capturing Lilia **

Merlin ran through the streets, followed by the guards, watched by the citizens of Camelot.

He stumbled quiet a lot because he did not see the things on the ground. It was so dark.

"You have to be faster", she giggled in his head.

"Help me", he screamed and bounced back as all of a sudden she stood in front of him.

"A very useful skill", she said, still in his head.

Merlin reached out for her cheek, he wanted to touch her, but it was just another illusion.

"I will detain them", she said softly. "Go on, you will find the way."

She passed him and walked towards the guards. Merlin gazed after her.

"You shouldn't stare, you should run", the voice in his head said and he could feel a beat in his neck very clearly. He grinned and ran.

She was sitting by the fire, her look going nowhere. She did not move but there was a look of concentration on her face.

Merlin walked to her, slowly. She still did not react to him, so he gently put a hand on her shoulder.

Lilia flinched, got up, turned around and threw him away from her in the very same moment. He flew through the air for some seconds and bounced of a tree.

He could see how Lilia put her hand to her mouth, eyes wide opened. Before he lost his consciousness he heard her saying: "Ooops."

"Does it hurt a lot?" Golden eyes looked at him in a worried way as Merlin regained his consciousness. She had put a hand on his forehead. She was warm and soft.

He leaned on his forearms and grinned.

"No, almost no pain.", he replied.

"Hm, so maybe I should give you some of it back", Lilia said and took her hand away. Immediately he felt a pain in the back of his head and made a face.

"Your fault", she reproved him. "Why did you sneak up on me like that? You know, some people have tried to kill me over the last few days."

She sat back on the fire, staring into the flames.

Merlin watched her for a while, confused by her thoughtful view. It did not fit to the cold of her words.

"This affects you more than you admit", he said while he got up and went to the fire himself to sit right next to her.

"Who likes to be attacked?", she asked back.

Both were silent for a while, watching the fire and following their own thoughts. Merlin realized how Lilia had pulled her legs to her body and how she had put her chin on her knees. She looked like a little child, gentle, calm, sensitive. No relation to the witch he had seen so far.

"Gaius said you are over hundred years old", he broke the silence.

„I've stopped counting the years", she admitted. "Eventually each year just seems to be like the last so you barley can tell the difference".

"But you don't look that old", Merlin said hesitating.

"And you would like to know how I'm doing that?", Lilia guessed.

Merlin nodded.

"Extremely unspectacular", she said. "I just make myself younger."

"Can I do that too?", he blurted out and Lilia had to laugh.

"You could learn it", she said. Her laughter died and something spread on her face Merlin had not seen before. Sorrow.

"But you shouldn't", she whispered.

"Why not? It must be great. Living as long as you want to. And if you get sick of it, you just stop and become old and your life ends the normal way", he dreamed.

Lilia caught his hand and turned fully to him. Her face was hard, her eyes wet.

"It's a curse and I totally forgot about that!", she said keen. "Once you have learned something it is hard to forget it. It stays in your head forever. No matter how long I was trapped I always made myself younger, over and over again, and I did not even realize it. Magic, especially when used for your own purposes, is never free." She let go of him, turned away, wiping her hand over her face. She was crying.

"I got used to it. I do not want to die. The world as it is now is horrible. But who wants to die while having found a way to get away from that?", she continued silently.

"What is the price?", Merlin asked.

"The soul", she said succinct.

She shivered a bit.

"I cannot separate the years anymore", she told him. "But I know how I was hunted, how I had to defend myself, how they wanted to kill me. Everytime I made myself younger I gave up a piece of my soul. Others did not matter to me anymore. Why should I care about humans when I had stopped being human myself. I am young, pretty, powerful. That is all I need."

„And still you are sad and helping me", he gave cause.

She looked up, surprised.

"You are like me. A magician, young and strong." She looked at him. "And you are not ugly either."

He grinned, but became serious again and took her hand.

"If you didn't care about the people, you also would not care whether they live or die. But you do not kill them. And you seemed happy when you saw the messenger."

Her eyes lit up.

"The old man!", she said happily. She also became serious again very quick.

"He reminded me of my soul. I could see his thoughts after they had chained me. He thought, I wasn't bad, someone just made me bad. I had to think about that."

"Maybe he was right", Merlin said.

"Maybe", she admitted. "Why do you stay in Camelot whilst Uther would kill you if he knew who you really are?", she asked all of a sudden.

„My mother sent me to Gaius", Merlin told her. "He found out immediately. I became Arthur's servant after I saved his life and I do that quiet a lot nowadays. The dragon told me, it was my destiny to protect Arthur for him to become king."

"And you think that is ok? Being a slave to your own destiny?" This was not a question of not understanding, Merlin noticed. She just wanted to know, how he felt about the others.

"Artur is a good man and he will be a good king. And Gaius is like a father to me. How could I leave him? Even Uther is not as bad as eveybody thinks. He seems blind when it comes to magic but..:" He could not continue.

"No but. Uther is egotistic and a liar. He doesn't like magic because he doesn't understand it. Because he didn't acknowledge its rules. And now others have to suffer for that", she chipped.

"You are not the most selfless person yourself", he reminded her.

Lilia stared at him, did not know what to say. Because he was right.

"I just can't leave them alone", Merlin continued. "They are my family. Uther brought peace and Artur will make the land better. If I can help, I will do it gladly."

She looked at him, but did not say anything. Inside her head the thoughts were running, Merlin could see that.

Both were silent.

Sometime later Lilia lay down and closed her eyes.

Merlin remained sitting at the fire for some more minutes. Tomorrow they had to think about where they wanted to go. He lay down too.

Lilia was not asleep. She was waiting for Merlin to lie down and remained quiet for an hour. Then she was convinced that he was asleep.

She stared at the stars.

Family.

He said they were his family.

She remembered her own family. Her mother and her father. Good, simple people. Nothing special. By the time it had become clear that Lilia was blessed with gifts, they had been so proud of her that from that day on, she had to do everything in the household. For it had been no labour for her. At least that was how they had reasoned it.

She had learned to use her powers and to develop them. That was her way of becoming strong. Through this she learned to get along by herself because her parents had not been around all day long.

Why would she need others if she could make it by herself.

She had run away, had learned to use higher magic, had been taught by magicians and after a while she had been able to pull everything she wanted to know out of the heads of sorcerers, friend or enemy.

She did not know family. Not like Merlin did.

She tried to see the future within the stars. They reminded her of something a voice had told her in a dream: When he appears there will be no need for you anymore.

Now she knew who was meant by this.

She could not see herself within the stars. There was no place for her.

Maybe it was time to go.

Merlin woke up, the sun was shining bright and he jumped up terrified.

The first time within days the sun was shining.

He looked around but he could not see Lilia.

Then he heared voices of victory. They came from Camelot. He ran to the castle immediately.

On his way he met a group of traders, walking along the main road, singing songs full of joy. He asked for the source of their happiness.

"The witch", one answered. "They have captured the witch and she is to be executed. Her powers are ebbing and the darkness went away."

They walked on and Merlin just stood there like stone.

Lilia captured.

He ran on, into the castle, straight to Gaius.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Execution

„Merlin!" With a worried face Gaius ran towards the young magician and closed the door to the rooms. "They are looking for you."

"What is happening?", Merlin asked rushed and gasping for air. "How could they capture her?"

Gaius looked at him thoughtfully and guided him to the table, making it clear that the boy should sit down.

Finally the older man started talking:

"We were looking for you. Arthur had great difficulty calming down Uther. In the end we managed to make him believe, that the witch had put a spell on you so that she had power over you. Since Uther is convinced that Lilia can be killed, he agreed not to harm you, because the spell certainly would be broken with her death.

While the guards were searching the town and the woods, we were thinking about what to do. But we did not find any solutions.

We pondered until sunrise and suddenly Lilia stood in front of us. She seemed week, broken.

For minutes we just stared at her, not understanding that she really was standing there. Uther finally ordered her arrest and Arthur did that himself. It was really her. The real Lilia. And she did not fight back. Something must have weakened her. Her spell broke and the darkness vanished. They could arrest her just like that.

She will be executed this evening. At the stake. Uther wants to see her burn."

Merlin was staring at him perplexed. He could not get his head around what had happened to Lilia. Yesterday she had been so strong, so powerful. And today a broken witch? He could not believe it.

"Where is she?", he asked silently with a shaking voice.

"In the dungeons", Gaius replied and put a hand on the shoulder of his protégé. "You should not go to her. Tell Arthur that you are back, tell the king that you're sorry. He will believe the spell is broken. It is over, Merlin." Fatherly Gaius looked at the young warlock.

"No", Merlin said. "Not if I can prevent it."

That said, he got up and ran away. Gaius looked after him, shaking his head painfully.

Merlin sneaked into the dungeons. He had to see Lilia to get know what had happened to her.

The guards were sitting at a small table, rolling a dice.

Merlin waited for a moment of carelessness and sneaked by them towards the cells. It did not take much time to find her.

Huddled up she sat under a small window. Her hands bound to her back, wrapped in scraps of cloth so she could not stretch her fists. Besides that they had blindfolded her. One shoulder was leaning against the wall the other pointed to the door. Her head low, her legs close at her body she looked so small.

"I knew you would come here", a voice startled him up and Merlin turned around. Arthur stood behind him.

"I should arrest you", he continued. "But I don't think, that this is necessary."

"I want to talk to her.", Merlin demanded and Arthur gave him a destroying look.

"Do you have any idea", Arthur asked, "how difficult it was to convince my Father from your inhibition? I have no idea what she did to you but she will die on the stake tonight."  
"That is why I have to talk to her one last time", Merlin insisted.

Arthur looked at him searchingly, finally nodding with a sigh and pointed a guard to open the door.

"But we will stay here", he warned his servant, who wormed himself through the door and went to Lilia.

He crouched down in front of her and touched her knee.

She raised her head immediately and smiled.

"Hello Merlin", she welcomed him softly. "It took you quiet a while."

"What is going on?", he asked. "You could free yourself in a blink of an eye."

"This is not the time for it anymore", she explained. "Long gone."

"I do not understand", he said silently.

"How could you?", her voice was trembling for a second. "For you my life seems to be so great. At the beginning I thought the same. But it isn't." She shook her head, continued speaking silently: "The people are afraid of what they do not understand. They never have experienced something like me before, not within the last 20 years. They have always been after me, wanting to get rid of me. And I got used to prolonging my life, fighting them back with all my powers. What could they do to me? But now there is you. You will be great, Merlin. There is no more space for me in this world."

"But…",he tried to give in but she would not led him.

"There is no but. This was prophesized to me and I myself cannot see me in the future."

She turned her head to him. "You are following your destiny and so will I. It took me a long time to realize that I can't go on like this. You made that clear to me. And now go. I have to prepare myself for not rescuing myself. Strange feeling."

She turned away and Merlin knew, that there was no chance to convince her. He let a minute pass by, his hand still on her knee.

Finally he got up without a word, left the cell, passed by Arthur, who looked sad after him and returned to Gaius, went to his chamber, took his magic-book and started looking for a spell to conjure up rain.

"I will not let this happen", a voice in his head said.

"So stop me", he whispered in reply.

Hundreds of people had gathered in the court yard to watch the witch die. They were cheering, celebrating. As the sun set slowly the audience formed a row and Lilia was led to the stake. They threw foul fruit at her, called her names and spat at her, but she walked on with her head high towards her death.

Merlin stood beside Gaius, who constantly reminded him to not take any action.

Arthur and Uther stood on the balustrade.

Uther had pardoned Merlin silently. After all, the servant had not tried to free the witch by now. Therefore the spell must have been broken.

Merlin went through the words of the spell he had found over and over again.

The sky was glowing red while Lilia climbed onto the stake and was bound to the pole. They had taken of the blindfold because they were sure that her power was broken. Nobody was afraid of her anymore.

There she stood, majestic, her eyes towards the sky, a smile on her lips.

Uther raised his voice:

„Residents of Camelot! See the witch that dared to throw us into a state of terror. Now look at her, how close she is to death and how she does not dare to fight back anymore. Magic is not as strong as many of you fear. And in the end, reason always wins."

He gave the guards the sign to set the stake on fire.

Merlin tautened himself and Gaius immediately realized that the boy had planned something.

"Merlin", he whispered. "Whatever it is you are going to do, just leave it. It seems as if she wants to die."  
Merlin stared at him in surprise.

"I have been reading a lot about her", Gaius said. "I know that her power did not just disappear like that. She wants to die. She would fight back otherwise."

"I cannot let that happen", Merlin replied. "I just can't."

He looked at the stake.

The flames flickered up the dry straw. The cheers of the people became louder, happier. They were singing and dancing. Merlin was disgusted by that.

Lilia did not move.

Merlin started saying the words, as Lilia lowered her head, looking straight at him with a burning, hard look. He could not say another word. She made him mute.

Desperately he realized what she was doing, what she was up to. She would let herself burn.

He wanted to shoot forward, towards the stake, trying to safe her but he was held back. Arthur had left the place next to his father and now was holding back Merlin.

"Be reasonable", he reminded his servant. "You cannot help her."

Lilia's spell made it impossible for Merlin to answer, to scream, to make her change her mind. He only could stare at her and she stared back.

A new expression became visible on her face.

It hurt.

Lilia could not remember ever having felt such a pain before. With all her powers she stopped herself from freeing herself, from taking the fire into herself, putting it out to survive. It was exhausting.

She could see the desperation on his face and she did not understand it.

How could he worry about her? How could she mean so much to him that he would sacrifice his own life to save hers?

Never before she had experienced something like that.

The heat of the fire burned her skin, slowly blistering already.

She saw the people dancing but could not hear them anymore. They were happy, cheering towards the death of the witch. Thereby she actually had not done anything to them. Besides making them panic and injuring some of them.

She did not know what to do.

She could not continue like that. Merlin's life had shown her that she did not belong into this world anymore. Not the way she was.

"But maybe in another way?", a thought shot through her mind. "Changed? Unknown?"

She had an idea.

After the surprise, the pain and the panic she suddenly was smiling.

Merlin barely could see her through the flames anymore. He still wanted to run to her, but Arthur was too strong.

The sun set behind the horizon and the stake was burning ablaze. As a short blast of air separated the flames, Merlin could see Lilia hanging on the pole. She was unconscious, maybe dead already.

That was when he slumped to the ground, sobbing. Arthur and Gaius sat down next to him, talking to him, protecting him so nobody could see him and took him to his chambers.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: A new Life **

For days the people of Camelot celebrated. Everyone had seen the witch die. Her ashes were spread all over the four cardinal directions never to come back again. Still they were a little afraid that she would return.

Merlin's life went on like before.

He took care of Arthur's things. There was not much to do and Merlin guessed that Arthur wanted to give him a break.

Uther still had a doubtful eye on the boy, but Merlin did not care about that.

Nobody, not even Gaius spoke a word about what had happened.

But every night the memories of Lilia and the tears for her returned.

"I'm sorry", a well known voice sounded and Merlin opened his eyes. He looked at Lilia's black head of hair.

"This is a dream, isn't it?", he asked, hoping for her to say no.

"Actually it is", she answered. "But I have manipulated it a bit."

Merlin sat up, Lilia remained on the floor.

"What does that mean?", he asked. "And what are you sorry for?"

"I have sneaked into your dream to direct it the way I wanted it to be.", she explained grinning. "And I am sorry for your misery."

"But you are dead", he noted. "I saw you die."

This time she looked at him, right into his eyes. And he froze. The eyes he looked into were not golden anymore. They were brown, a light, but unmistakable brown.

"You saw something like me", she replied.

"An illusion", he supposed.

"Yes. You know, it isn't easy to let go of your eternal life from one second to another. But I have found a good solution." She looked at him smiling and his look became questioning.

"I will live", she explained. "Just one more life. Then it will be over. I will die when you will. I connected my life force with yours. I have known this spell for so long. I just had forgotten about it. Actually you will not feel anything about it."

"And inauthentic?" he asked, speechless about what she just told him.

"You will know that I am always around in some kind of way.", she said silently. "I can't influence you, and you cannot influence me. I do not exist for real. I'm less than a human but more than a ghost. I'm something in between. Difficult to explain."

He put a hand on her shoulder and she put her head on his hand.

"I thought I had lost you", he finally broke the silence, tears in his eyes.

"We don't die", she whispered. "We just go. And sometimes we come back."

She got up and turned around to him. Her face showed a blissful smile, like he had never seen on her before. She was happy.

„I will be able to visit you in your dreams. And if you need me you can call me with your mind. I cannot tell you where I am. It is better for you not to know." She seemed peaceful. They would get old together in some kind of way. She started to live her last life and she had decided to share it with him.

He was proud of her.

"One more thing." she said with a grin. "Greetings from Freya."

So she disappeared.

But she would be there for him forever.

Merlin slept, woke up alive, happy and his life went on.


End file.
